Year of the Spark: April 6
by Sparky Army
Summary: He knew what was happening, knew he should fight it but he didn't want to. The Year of the Spark continues.


_We, the Sparky Army, decree 2008 to be the Year of the Spark. We pledge to post a new sparky story or chapter of a sparky story every day from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. Though the Powers the Be have removed Elizabeth Weir from the regular cast of Stargate Atlantis, we feel that she remains an integral part of the show, and that the relationship between her and John Sheppard is too obvious to be ignored. We hope that you, and anyone might happen to read these works, agree. _

_And if that isn't official enough for you, we don't know what is. Seriously, guys, we're just trying to have some fun--and show TPTB that Sparky is the way to go. So sit back and enjoy the 366 stories coming your way!_

Note from the Author (Hannah554) – I wrote this little fic a while ago and finally decided to post it, hope you all enjoy.

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**Wake Up**

_By Hannah554_

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It had been arrogant and somewhat stupid to think that they had more or less rid themselves of the replicator threat and now they were paying the price. They had been unprepared to find a group of replicators living on a normal planet, in a normal village, living what seemed like normal lives. They had of course been biding their time, trying to build up there numbers after the crippling blow Atlantis had dealt them but everything had seemed so normal.

Then they'd discovered the truth and several fire fights had ensued before the team had been able to escape. Colonel Carter had greeted them as they stepped through the gate and John had barely begun explaining what had happened when he abruptly collapsed.

He'd been taken to the infirmary where Dr Keller had run her tests and placed John in quarantine informing everyone that he had Nanites in his system. Fortunately everyone else's tests had come back clean and they were all left in a position that felt all too familiar.

Teyla stood beside Ronon and Rodney watching the unmoving form of their commander and friend. They were separated from him only by a thin piece of plastic, it was the only thing protecting them and Atlantis but it was also isolating John on the other side of it... alone.

Dr Keller was busying herself trying to find a way to help him, Rodney had been doing the same but it seemed he had decided to take a moment to stand with his friends. Teyla missed Carson more in that moment and she silently wished that the good doctor was here along with Elizabeth.

John had been the one to help Elizabeth out of this exact situation, he'd broken quarantine and reached out to her and she wished it was as simple as that. Now and again they would talk to him, not entirely sure he could hear them but Elizabeth had said that when it had been her, John's words, his presence, had broken through the hold the replicators had on her. Teyla wasn't so sure it had been the simple gesture that had helped to save their currently missing leader but rather the person making it. She believed, despite opinions to the contrary, that John had been the only one capable of bringing Elizabeth back and she also believed that Elizabeth was the only person capable of bring him back... if only she was there.

She looked at the machines that were monitoring his vitals; they'd remained unchanged since he'd been put in there. "He's not fighting," she said quietly, breaking the silence that had settled over the group.

"No he's not," Ronon agreed solemnly.

"What?" Rodney questioned incredulously though something in his voice told her he'd thought the same thing "Why would he not be fighting them?"

"Maybe whatever's happening in there is better than what he knows he'll wake up to," Ronon stated and Teyla silently agreed with him, she took Rodney's silence as his own agreement as they all watched their friend. She prayed that somehow he would find a way back to them.

- - -

John walked out onto the balcony to find the subject of his brief search exactly where he'd expected her to be. She was looking out at the ocean, her expression thoughtful and sad at the same time and he wished he could take away every bad thing that had happened to her in the time he'd known her. If Elizabeth knew he was behind her she didn't show it, instead she continued to stand there, her eyes fixed on the vast ocean around them.

He moved to stand beside her, leaning on the railing and breathing in the familiar scent of the ocean. To him, this right here was Atlantis, standing on this balcony surrounded by the ocean with Elizabeth standing right beside him.

"It's beautiful," Elizabeth whispered quietly, her gaze never leaving the ocean.

"Yeah it is," John replied though he was talking about more than just the view.

"This is my favourite part of the city you know," she told him and John smiled as he looked at her. The red top she was wearing was so familiar to him now, she almost always wore red and he knew that he would forever associate that colour with her.

"I know," he stated and she finally looked away from the ocean.

"It's time John," she told him and the smile left his face quickly, replaced by a frown and a stubborn refusal to acknowledge what she was talking about.

"I don't know what you mean," he said and abruptly turned his gaze back to the ocean to avoid the knowing look on her face.

"Yes you do," she stated quietly and he closed his eyes against the emotions that could very easily be his end. He'd known right from the beginning that Elizabeth Weir alone held the power to break him, that she could too easily be his undoing. "You shouldn't be here... and neither should I."

"Don't say that," he whispered and she took a step closer to him, placing her hand on his arm in a silent gesture for him to look at her. He did so reluctantly but he couldn't meet her eyes, she didn't say anything, waiting for him to do so and finally he relented. The sad, haunted look in her familiar 

green eyes would probably stay with him forever even though he knew his own mind had put it there.

"John, you know what's going on, you know you have to fight this," she told him and he shook his head. "This isn't real John."

"I don't care," he replied honestly, he really didn't.

"I do," she said, her voice barely above a whisper "And so do the others, Atlantis needs you..." she began but John cut her off.

"I don't care about Atlantis," he stated, the tiniest bit of anger creeping into his voice and he couldn't figure out if he'd actually meant it.

"That's not true," she replied adamantly and somewhere in him he knew she was right. He reached out to her, pulling her against his chest and she responded almost immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck and he decided right then that he never wanted to move. She buried her face in his neck and he held her tighter, he wasn't even sure how long they were standing like that.

"It's time to wake up," she whispered and he didn't move, instead he soaked up this feeling, everything that he knew as Elizabeth and held on to it as though it was the only thing keeping him alive and he wondered for the briefest moment if maybe it was. The replicators that had flooded his body should surely have taken over everything by now.

"I don't want to," he told her and she pulled back slightly, he barely loosened his grip on her and she leaned her forehead against his. Their faces were so close he could feel her every breath against his neck.

"You have to," she stated "This world isn't real, you have to go back."

"I don't want to go back, you're not there," he replied.

"Yes I am," she said quietly and he shook his head slightly against hers.

"You're dead," the words nearly killed him, sent a stab of pain through him worse than any bullet wound ever could.

"No I'm not," she told him "You know I'm not, you can feel it... but you can't find me if you're in here."

"I miss you," he admitted and she hugged him burying her face into his neck again and he held her even tighter than before.

"You'll find me," she whispered and he continued to hold her even as he could feel the world slipping away from him, even as he felt her slipping away from him and as the familiar sight of the infirmary came into view he resented consciousness.


End file.
